Grand Island man arrested on burglary charges after terrorizing woman

Erie
County Sheriff Tim Howard has announced the arrest and arraignment of
a Grand Island man who detectives say terrorized an elderly Grand
Island woman on East River Road.

According
to the sheriff's office, the subject, 30-year-old Justin W. Slaiman
of Baseline Road, allegedly stole sentimental and valuable items from
the victim's home and property "repeatedly and methodically"
for a several weeks in August. He then took the stolen items to local
pawn shops, the sheriff's office said.

"We
believe that he was there numerous times. He kept returning," said
Capt. Gregory Savage of the Erie County Sheriff's Office. Savage
added that the victim is an elderly former antique dealer who had an
old barn filled with collectibles.

"He
would go to the house, he would go to the barn. We think he probably
broke in there at least half a dozen times, including one time he put
a ladder up against the side of the house and he was cutting the
screen when the homeowner came right to the window and literally was
face to face with him," Savage said. "He smiled at her, and he
took off running."

"He's
just a very brazen guy. It didn't even seem to faze him that the
homeowner was in there at the time he was trying to get in the
house."

Erie
County Sheriff's deputies arrived and found burglary tools at the
scene. Slaiman was later identified through DNA evidence.

Slaiman
was arrested in connection with this case on Sept. 28 by detectives
and charged with felony burglary/illegal entry with criminal intent;
felony attempted burglary/armed with a deadly weapon; felony grand
larceny/value of property greater than $1,000; felony criminal
mischief in the third degree/damage to another's property; felony
burglary with intent to commit a crime; misdemeanor criminal
possession of stolen property in the fifth degree; and another
misdemeanor for possession of burglar tools.

The
weapon was a knife with a 12-inch blade Slaiman allegedly used to cut
the screen. "So had he made entry into the house, and confronted
her, who knows what could have happened," Savage said. "It could
have turned into something a lot more serious than just a burglary."

"That's
how homicides happen sometimes. You get caught in the house, you
panic," Savage said.

Slaiman
pleaded not guilty at his arraignment over the weekend. He also
remains a prime suspect in several other burglary cases on Grand
Island since March. More charges are pending.

"He
has quite an arrest history," Savage said, noting Slaiman has been
arrested "just about every year," with a criminal recored dating
to 2006. He has been arrested six times for criminal possession of a
controlled substance.

Slaiman
is making burglary in particular a career and "just doesn't want
to go out and get a job," Savage said.

"That's
how he makes his money, just by stealing."

According
to the ECSO, some of the items Slaiman stole from the victim were
pawned with some success, include military memorabilia; various types
of scrap metal; and other sentimental artifacts.

"Our
detectives recovered some of the property at a couple of different
pawn shops," Savage said.

Savage
said the arrest illustrates the need for a new law regarding pawn
shops in Erie County. The law would regulate how pawn shops would
handle property for sale.

Pawn
shops "would have to document what they take in, they would have to
maintain that property for a minimum of 10 to 14 days, just in case
it does turn out to be stolen. They would have to get ID from
people," Savage said.

Pawn
shops are resistant, especially those who buy silver and gold, Savage
said.

"They've
got their little smelting pots running 24 hours a day," Savage
said. "As soon as somebody brings it in, they're melting it down
immediately because then if the police come looking for something
they can say, 'Hey, I don't have it. It was melted down.'"

"These
places are nothing but legalized fencing operations as far as I'm
concerned, many of them, because they're knowingly taking in stolen
property," Savage said, explaining that these shops are taking
advantage of a loophole in the law.

"Really,
you've got about 20 business people in Erie County that are getting
rich off of this at the misery of a lot of other people," Savage
said.